


we're gonna finally be fine

by ameliajessica



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, jeff winger is the president of the annie edison fanclub
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-01
Updated: 2013-03-01
Packaged: 2017-12-04 00:46:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/704527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ameliajessica/pseuds/ameliajessica
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He starts his last year with the realisation that he has a crush on Annie. Flat-out, straight-up, schoolgirl crush. On Annie Edison. It’s slightly ridiculous.</p>
            </blockquote>





	we're gonna finally be fine

**Author's Note:**

> Alternate series four opening, I guess. Just go with it.

He starts his last year with the realisation that he has a crush on Annie. Flat-out, straight-up, schoolgirl crush. On Annie Edison. It’s slightly ridiculous.

Well, to say he _literally_ started the year with the realisation might be a bit of an exaggeration. It was a process that kind of took the whole day to be ready. It started in the morning, when he had been leaving his apartment, sitting in his car and when he realised that his jitters weren’t just the extra coffee he took. Jeff Winger, Jeff Winger, was actually nervous about going to school, for whatever reason.

In the Study Room he is greeted first by Shirley, who got there early on account of Andre dropping her off on his way to work. They chat about her boys and his summer and honestly Jeff is surprised that's he's actually interested and invested until Pierce saunters in, announcing himself loudly and then Britta stumbles in and after what feels like forever Troy and Abed walk in, one of them on either side of Annie. There’s something about the way the confidence with which she just strolls in, holding their hands and laughing easily that makes his stomach feel impossibly tight and before he knows it he’s standing. And everyone has stopped laughing and smiling because instead they’re looking at him.

“Group hug!” Annie calls out and it’s forgotten the minute she lets go of Troy hand to pull Jeff closer; they all gather around each other, Annie tucked under his arm with Britta held to him with his other. From there, Pierce is grinning at Troy who in turn is sharing a look with Abed, who is as expressionless as always, but somehow seems very, very sad. It’s the last time they’ll all be together for the first time. That’s why he’s nervous; of course. It has to be.

After the exhaustion of their first day, it seems logical to treat to themselves to something after school. It’s Annie and Jeff that go up to order their food at the local fast food, and it’s getting harder and harder for him to ignore the fact that his nerves still haven’t settled. Annie is counting the money she was given by everyone because Pierce didn’t have change and Britta had too much when she realises she completely forgot to pick up her own purse.

“I got it,” Jeff says, without thinking, giving a quick nod to the cashier as he hands her the extra money and then he sees Annie giving him a curiously pleased look, head tilting to the side.

“What?” he asks, but she just shakes her head and smiles to herself, like she knows something he doesn’t. He doesn’t want to push it, so shrugs before pocketing his wallet again.

Annie turns so that her back is resting against the counter, fixing her skirt. “I’ll pay you back when we get back to the table.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he dismisses, shaking his head.

“Jeff!” she insists.

“Annie,” he replies, looking at her pointedly and holds her gaze until she huffs out in defeat and turns away from him again, shaking her head disapprovingly. He mimics her until, sighing dramatically and making a show of rolling his eyes as obviously as possible as he folds his arms across his chest. She laughs and shoves at him with her hip. It leaves him visibly startled and she giggles under her breath and does it again; then he looks visibly offended, and then she laughs openly, bending slightly at the knees and covering her mouth with one hand. 

Her voice is shaky and breathless when she thanks the cashier for the food, reaching to pick up the food tray, still holding in her laughter through firmly closed lips. The sense of accomplishment at making her smile that fills his chest is kind of fascinating though mostly very worrying. Trying to shake it off, he picks up the other tray.

They end up spending hours in the restaurant, and not for the first time are the last ones there. It’s when the workers look more obviously fed up and are tutting amongst themselves in between shooting glares at the group that they sheepishly shuffle out the door. Jeff walks back and places an extra twenty on the counter as a way of apology and when he spins round, hands in his pockets, Annie is watching him again, with that pleasantly surprised smile. It’s that same smile that keeps making him making stupid decisions like helping Pierce with his stepdaughter or standing up for her UN model and it takes the breath out of him.  


He doesn’t take his eyes off of her, though it doesn’t appear that she’s noticed. But then she opens the door with one hand and hooks the other one into the crook of his elbow. It’s nothing new, of course, all that’s missing is the ‘milady, milord’ exchange but there’s something about the way she does it without thinking that makes him hold him breath the entire time that it’s happening.

Jeff ends up allocated the role of chaperone for those residing at Casa de Trobed (plus Annie), with Annie and Abed chatting animatedly in the backseat about a show that should be cancelled before its fourth season with Troy turning around to make input every so often. 

She seems so... free now, like somehow over the summer something happened that made her loosen up and she’s finally settled on the right mix of grown-up and young. It makes him uneasy, for some reason, to note the easiness with which she can hold a serious conversation and how even though Abed’s steady gaze can make some people uncomfortable, she is not one of them and looks straight into his eyes when they talk. Most of all he doesn’t like the tenderness with which he’s looking at her and affection he feels towards her smiles and his stomach feels hollow and but also too full, both at the same time. 

And then they’re so excited to be home that they barely stop to thank him before the car doors slam shut and he’s alone, the car too quiet. That’s when there’s a knock on the window and it’s Annie, of course it’s Annie, and she’s smiling and beckoning him to open the door, which he does.

He can’t move, and not just because he’s wearing a seatbelt; in fact, it’s not at all because he’s wearing a seatbelt but more to do with the fact that’s she’s leaning over the shotgun seat towards him and oh God since when does she wear tops that are low-cut, or at least _that_ low cut, like, where is he even meant look in a situation like this. For some reason his brain tells him it’s a good idea to focus on her bottom lip (which she has in between her teeth, oh God) until he feels her hand on his chest and his hand goes to her elbow, immediately, like instantly touching her anywhere is a necessity.

“Keep the change,” she whispers, with a coy smile and slides away from him and that’s when he realises she’s slipped a ten into the front pocket of his shirt and then he just _knows_. It is the exact moment he realises his nervous disposition that morning had been there because the thought of facing Little Annie Edison after a whole summer had been both the most exciting and terrifying prospect of his day. In fact, with the new-found information it appeared to be the most exciting and terrifying of tomorrow, and each day after that until graduation. And then the thought of not seeing her everyday seemed just terrifying.

He looks to see if she’s still there and manages to just catch her as she goes through the door. Her eyes meet his and then there’s that smile again, that stupid, wide, smile; the one that says _there you are_ , like there’s a person she’s always known had been somewhere inside him even if he hadn’t. And the smile makes him believe her, dammit. 

“Oh God oh God oh God,” he mutters to himself but then she lifts her hand in a small wave and he’s waving back, slightly calmer now that he’s got her in her sights and maybe. Well, suddenly he doesn't know why he was worried at all. Maybe having a crush on Annie Edison won’t be so awful after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeahhhhh it's cheesy shhh don't judge too harshly. I was inspired by a post on Tumblr about how Jeff is just basically crushing on Annie Edison and the writers are too silly to acknowledge it or something and yeah it made me laugh and here we are. Hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
